We took a mini break at the Jurassic Coast. Three beaches, a 13C chapel, and a video.

We decided to head down to the sea shore for a mini vacation.Now since the isles are surrounded by all sorts of beaches, I did a little research to where I'd like to go, and I chose the Jurassic coast in the south.A little research turned up this gem of a B&B, The Abbey House in the quaint little village of Abotsburry.We will definitely stay here again next summer.Here is our luxurious and ever so comfortable bedroom, complete with an ensuite with soaker tub and separate shower fluffy towels and beautiful boutique toiletries.I also chose this B&B because it is right beside the biggest and possibly the best preserved 14C tithe barn in England. (It was useful to Henry 8th so wasn't destroyed during the reformation.) And close to a monument called St Catherine's chapel. (Which also wasn't destroyed because it was useful as a beacon for mariners.)So we dropped off out overnight bags in our room, grabbed out beach gear and headed off to the nearest beach along the Jurassic coast.Now I must admit that the child in me felt like we were going to find fossils at every turn, and the adventurer in me felt like I'm not going to stop searching till I do!The first beach we came to was called Chesil beach and I fell in love with the beautiful polished rocks there.Glorious, glorious little polished pebbles.We had a swim and I gathered up handfuls of pebbles to take home for possible rings, and decided to drive to an other beach.It was afternoon by the time we left Chesil beach, and as we drove along the Dorset coast, a fog started to roll in in the most romantic way over the bucolic countryside.The we arrived in a little "Doc Martin" seaside village called West Bay and stopped at the beach there.Wow! This beach!We were advised that fossils could be found in the sandstone and shale cliffs and so decided to take a look for ourselves.We saw tons of people with their little geological hammers digging into the sandstone, and then remembered that last year a part of the cliff fell down and killed a woman.As a matter of fact, as we were talking to someone, a rock tumbled off the cliffs and landed with a thump a little way from us. The woman said, "Oh yeah, the cliff slides bring the rocks down."Umm, we called this the Darwin Awards Beach! And stepped away from the cliffs.We didn't find any fossils here, but we had fun looking.Soon it was time to head back to our B&B and think about supper.We pointed the car towards St Catherine's chapel and the little hamlet of Abbotsbury, and walked into town to the pub for fish and chips.After supper Robbie felt like having a rest and I wanted to go explore the hamlet.I started off with the church right next door to the B&B.This little church is built on the ruins of the Abbey of St Peter.It wasn't spared during the reformation and most of the windows are Victorian stained glass, except for this one of Mary the virgin, which was found and pieced back together. It is most probably a small part of a medieval window.I walked to the tithe barn and walked around the pond.Then I walked out of the garden gate and up the hill to St Catherine's chapel.On the way up the hill I met a woman walking her dog. I stopped to say hello and she told me she got married in the chapel because it's such a special place.Looking down on our little hamlet and the B&B, I would agree with her.The inside of this chapel is bare ground and dove roosts. So simple and so magical.I stayed for the sunset......and walked back through our sleepy little hamlet to the B&B.The next morning we had breakfast, said goodbye to our hosts, and went off in search of a new beach and some fossils.We were told that Charmouth beach was the most famous of the fossil beaches on this Jurassic coast, and so we headed straight down there.Instead of soft, yellow sandstone, we found hard clay and shale.And tons of people beachcombing for fossils.This beach did not disappoint.There were several huge boulders along the beach with fossils in them. Like these ammonites.And this: apparently a prehistoric turtle shell.We spoke to some fossil hunters and they showed us some ancient fossils called belemnites: calcified remains of a prehistoric squid type creature.So while we collected a bunch from among the rocks, other people had other ideas!We've had the most amazing time this little holiday get-away. We visited a new part of England I've never been to and discovered some new and wonderful things.Here is a little video I made for you. Hope you like it. Sorry about the smudge on the camera lens. I didn;t notice it till editing.https://youtu.be/6reKITMPA-kWe're already planning to come back here next summer. :D

At the ancient White Horse, plus video

You know,When I think about it, it's pretty silly that we haven't taken the time to walk up here in a few years.It's actually only about 20 miles away from home, and now that we're here I wonder what took us so long to come back.I know there are other monuments and even other horses in different parts of the UK but, to me, this prehistoric White Horse here at Uffington is truly a magical place.Actually, the whole chalk hill is a magical place. There isn't anywhere in all of Oxfordshire that you can be so high overlooking the whole of the county and miles beyond.We sat there in the tall grass just above the head of the giant horse. We watched the wind bend the grasses, we watched the people, the flying kites. Robbie decided that we should drive here, hike up, sit on the grass and be in the moment for at least a half hour. Every day.Here's a short little video for you. Hope you like it and if you do, plese give it a thumbs-up.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HO8VMS8AGU

Two day on the Thames River at Newbridge plus video

Hello everyone,I've spent two days beside the Thames here in Oxfordshire.We live very close to a special area where the Windrush River joins the Thames at a place called Newbridge.This is Newbridge. It's called new bridge because it was the newest of three bridges built across the Thames in the 13C. Some say it may be the oldest standing bridge in the country.On Friday, Robbie and I met some new friends, Ray and Jenny, at our favourite pub, The Rose Revived, for lunch.We love the Rose. It has some lovely food and the situation right beside the Thames is just so ideal.We picked out a table under the willows at the river's edge......and watched the little minnows nibbling at the trailing willow leaves.The resident swan family has raised three cygnets this year and they were parading them around the narrow boats on the opposite bank looking for a handout.Yesterday I spent another day at the river.This time I walked down the Thames Path and was hoping to walk all the way down to the Northmoor lock, but decided to turn back when a thunder storm swept in.I did manage to make this silly video though.https://youtu.be/l1re14yo2QYCome for a walk with me. :D

Indiana Jones and an Andrews sister at Retro Festival

Hello everyone, it's been a wonderfully roller coastery Saturday for us at the Retro Festival.We had the most amazing time with our friends Chris and Diane and their darling granddaughter Kelsey.We toured the vintage car show grounds, shopped miles of vintage markets, listened to wonderful music and danced up a storm.I got my hair styled a la 1940's up-do and took part in a "best dressed" competition! Oh my goodness that was a lot of hairspray and 25 bobby pins! But I bought a vintage Royal Air Force hat to go with my outfit and had to figure out how to wear it.More cars! Wanna Bugatti?We stopped by the Spitfire tent to catch the live show. These three fabulous girls, My Favourite Things, did an amazing job of singing and dancing.Here is the little video I made for you:https://youtu.be/TukJke4xKPUIf you like it, could you give it a thumbs up please?My friend Diane took this photo of us just as we arrived.And we're already planning to come back next year! :D

Lately: Car port, Oxford, and lunch at The Vaults, plus video!

Hello everyone,It's been quite the busy week round here. We've (when I say we, I mean Robert), have chopped down an apple tree.It was a hard decision to chop it down, mainly because it was such a hardy and healthy tree, but we planned to put a carport up against the garage and, as much as we loved the occasional apple crumble, the best thing for us was to remove the tree.So down it came. The wood will be used for fire wood plus a little of it will be handed out to friends for carving.And the best thing is that Robert won't have to pick up millions of apples from the ground.Speaking of the apples, I put out a great big bin full for anyone to help themselves and some people did.After several days of apple tree, clean up and building the foundations for our new carport, we took a trip into Oxford for the Thursday vintage and antique market.We were after a hat or two for our costumes for Saturday's Retro Festival.We were not very successful with the hats, so went to have lunch at one of our favourite cafes, The Vaults.The Vaults is a basement room under St Mary the Virgin church dating back to 1320. It served as the first ever library in Oxford belonging to the university of Oxford.Now our friend Will Pouget runs the space as the most amazing organic cafe.We ate our lunch on the patio and Will came for a lovely chat.Here is a little video of our day:https://youtu.be/m9n3ONuSrfEOn our way home we drove thru the neighbouring village of Appleton and I picked up enough beautiful dahlias from one of the roadside stands for four bouquets.The post and video from our Retro Festival day coming tomorrow. :D

Oxford! Video, the Thursday vintage market plus shopping in Oxford.

Once I'm out of the city I just love to stay in the country. Love it to pieces.But I'm also a working artist, and that means I need to buy vintage maps and ephemera to paint on. Thursdays in Oxford is a vintage market with a stall run by Gary my favourite vintage map seller from Oxford Maps, so an ideal day to make the trek into town.Other than that, Oxford is a beautiful, quirky town with loads of unique shops, as well as the old familiar...like Primark for cheap reading glasses, and Lush for bath treats.But the most wonderful store in Oxford has got to be Scriptum.Scriptum is a dream come true for anyone who loves paper and books and pens and inks as much as I do.Come with me and explore Oxford for the day. Come to the vintage market, have tea in a 15C building, brave the summer crowds, and shop for beautiful things in Scriptum:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi-H65FwOZE&feature=youtu.be

Pre-supper drinks in our friend's garden plus a silly video

Our friends Elaine and William invited us to their lovely garden for pre-supper drinks. Our friends Mile and Val were there as well, and it was so lovely and warm in the garden that we talked and caught up till well past supper.Today I had to do the banking and shopping so I made you an other silly video. :Dhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ9SdJoQl9g

Found while walking: A Roman villa in the Oxfordshire countryside, plus video

Come with us down this country lane......ignoring this dodgy sign......in our bucolic Oxfordshire country......to find this Roman villa.https://youtu.be/6YHD2tXIywA

Our Knight Templar next door as inspiration for a Medieval angel painting

The other day Robert and I walked down to the church to visit Thomas Moore, a 13C Knight Templar, and his wife Isabelle.The ancient frescoes around them gave me some inspiration for a little Medieval angel painting.Here is the video:https://youtu.be/yrfJLWUPMoYTheo thinks I've done enough painting and should pay attention to him now.

So here I am back in England

Robert picked me up at Heathrow and drove me home.We actually managed to miss each other at arrivals with both of us texting each other at the same time while apparently walking right past...lol.First world problems.Robbie took care to have some beautiful garden roses waiting for me.While I made a cup of tea and moved my art supplies back into my studio.I washed my art table and organised my tools,Did a bit of gardening,And suddenly it seems like four days have gone.On the other hand, I did walk the fields and carved a new magic wand. (last year's here) Evidence on my YouTube.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AAhevc1M8wAnd then I went grocery shopping and a bit of a mooch in our market town: (more evidence on my YouTube)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLRgOjxk99YYou know, I really like making these silly little videos. Is anyone interested in YouTube and videos? Or is it just for the make-up/fashion 30-something crazies? :D